Aptos High’s Hannah Hocom was recently named one of 20 Cal-Hi Sports All-State Sophomore team selections.
This year’s Pajaronian Player of the Year for girl’s basketball helped lead the Mariners to their first Central Coast Section Championship since 1983, beating Soquel High for the Division III crown.
Hocom, who was also a Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League First Team selection, started all 31 games for Aptos and averaged a team-high 15.1 points, 2.3 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game en route to a 26-win season. She hit 72 3-pointers, which was the 26th most of any player in state and fifth among sophomores.
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D-LEAGUE BASKETBALL
• SCW’s Murphy earns honor – Santa Cruz Warriors second-year President Chris Murphy was recently named the NBA D-League’s Executive of the Year, an award voted on by the executives from around the league.
With Murphy at the helm, the Golden State Warriors’ D-League affiliate sold out all 24 regular season home games at Kaiser Permanente Arena this season and the team on the court returned to the playoffs after finishing with a 31-19 record.
Before joining Santa Cruz in 2015, Murphy served as Senior Director of Group Sales for Golden State. He has worked for the Warriors since 2005.
“Chris has been a valuable part of the Warriors organization for 12 years, and when he accepted the role of President in Santa Cruz two seasons ago, he recognized the value of getting broader general management experience,” Golden State Warriors President and Chief Operating Officer Rick Welts said in a press release. “It’s a great honor for him and a recognition of the Warriors’ operating philosophy and connection between our D-League and NBA teams.”
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CCS TENNIS
• Safari advances to quarterfinals – Aptos High junior Kourosh Safari advanced to the quarterfinals of the Central Coast Section Singles Championship before falling to the No. 2 seed Andre Xiao of Saratoga High on Tuesday at the Imperial Tennis Courts in Aptos.
Safari, the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League’s Singles Champion, beat unseeded Nirmal Vegesna of Evergreen Valley High, 6-1, 6-4, in the first round but could not solve Xiao in the quarterfinals. He lost 6-2, 6-3.
Aptos’ doubles team of Jackson Ward and Carter Bond lost 6-0, 6-0 in the first round of the CCS Doubles Championship to St. Ignatius’ top-seeded team of Campbell Nakayama and Jack Carroll.
